Diavolo Bambino
by Kaminari31Hiroki
Summary: Tsuna has a "new" sister and she seems to be hiding a lot of secrets... Disclaimer: All characters belong to Amano Akira except for Akari and Genesio! They belong to me.
1. Chapter 1

Note: This is all taking place some time before the Ring Battle.

* * *

"Hey" Dino says as he shakes her shoulders. "Wake up. You're coming to Japan with me today."

"Why?" the teenager asks.

"You'll be able to meet your brother, Sawada Ysunayoshi, the soon-to-be tenth Vongola boss, and-"

Akari interrupts him by telling him that Tsuna sounds boring and turns over to go back to sleep. The 22 year old complains and tells her to let him finish talking. She lays silently, listening. When he mentions Gokudera-kun and Shamal are there, she immediately sits up.

"Really?!" she exclaims. He nods. "When are we leaving today?!"

"Right now." he announces before he opens the door. They walk into the long hallway and climb up a long flight of stairs to the roof. She realizes she is still wearing her pajamas when she trips over her pajama pants. Dino helps her up and tells her she can change clothes in the helicopter. Surprised at the transportation mode, she asks how long she will stay in Japan. She hopes he will say "You're going to live there" and, as always, she was right. She was happy at first but thought about her belongings at home. Seeing her face and understanding why she suddenly became so sad, Dino comforts her by informing her that all her stuff has been sent to Tsuna's house.

When they reach their destination, Romario is waiting beside the helicopter. She smiles and greets him with a warm "Hello" as he helps his boss and Akari get into the aircraft. Once she enters, she asks Dino, "So what is my brother like?" Smiling, he tells her he is very strong, kind, and has the potential to become the perfect boss. Akari shakes her head questioning "Did he go through training like I did?!" Dino looks at her disapprovingly. "Not as much. You've trained longer than he has."  
"Psh, I trained to become a ninja!"  
He laughs, "Hahaha, I know. You trained with the scariest. I really didn't want to bring you here because they asked me to, but I didn't want to fight with them." The girl chuckles and claims he is a coward and is then handed her clothes to change into. Looking at Romario like he's crazy for handing the garments to her now, he holds up a large towel to cover her so she can change in privacy.

The ride was peaceful after she changed. She enjoyed the breeze in her face. Sadness came over her when Dino announced they were in front of Tsuna's house.

"Do you seriously expect me to jump off of this helicopter?!" she screams after he jumps down, and tells for to follow.

"Come on, I know you've jumped down from higher places!"

"It's not that, you idiot! I'm a girl and I'm wearing a skirt!"

"No one will care, the street is empty anyways!"

"You are such a pervert!"

"Ah-! Wai- I didn't... Its not like that!" He wails.

"Liar!" She screams at him as Romario boldly pushes her out, knowing he will probably get scolded for doing so. They all panic as she falls, but she's caught by an old friend.

"I figured you would still be doing crazy things even after you got out of the hospital" a familiar voice says in her ear. Akari gets teary and hugs him, sobbing in his shoulder trying to say something. He lifts up her face but looks annoyed at her when he sees the snot on his shirt. Embarrassed, she cries even harder. Yamamoto comes running in saying Gokudera shouldn't have run ahead of him.

"Ah! Just in time Yamamoto!" Dino says as he pats his shoulder. "I want you to meet Tsuna's sister, Sawada Akari."

"I can't see her when she's crying into Gokudera-kun's arms." he complains.

Gokudera lifts her from his shoulder, trying not to move it too much because of how uncomfortable it is moving in wet clothing. He gently wipes her tears, and hands her a tissue. "Must I always see you with such a sad face? The last time I saw you you were in the hospital." Gokudera says softly.  
"I'm sorry Hayato-kun... I didn't want to jump off of the helicopter because I was wearing a skirt..."

Yamamoto comes in, telling her she is a very cute girl. Gokudera gets pissed off and scolds him for saying such things to someone he just met. The taller boy argues back and tells him he was just trying to be nice and takes a glance at Akari, who is sitting there wiping her tears and nose, and looks at Gokudera with disappointment in his eyes then asks what he did to make her cry.  
"Che! Why do you think I did something to her?! She fell out of the helicopter and I caught her! There's nothing wrong with that! Besides, she just started crying for no reason!" Gokudera retorts.

Akari stands up and hugs Gokudera saying things like "I missed you" or "I'm sorry for scaring you" and "I wont do that anymore." Yamamoto grins and says, "Past lovers, huh?" with a bit of a chuckle. The two glare at him. He looks around innocently and runs inside the house screaming "TSUNA!" Dino laughs and suggests they go inside before a crowd forms. Gokudera and Akari look at him strangely and tell him that a small crowd had already appeared when the helicopter arrived. The young boss scratches his head in embarrassment. "Just go inside." he whispers.

Inside the house, they hear crying coming from the kitchen. Everyone goes inside to see Tsuna's mother, Sawada Nana, sobbing into a red, pie designed towelette. She looks up from the towelette with eyes red from crying. Akari puts on a soothing smile and asks "Why are you crying, mom?" then hugs her. When the hug is finished, Nana answers back with "I thought you were dead..." and more tears roll down her eyes.

The moment was a happy one; A nice family reunion. They haven't seen each other since the day Akari was born. She tells her mother that Iemitsu took her to Italy for her studies the day she was born. Akari asked her mother not to be so mad at her husband when he comes back. "Where is he? Shouldn't he be with you?" Nana asks. Akari shakes her head and replies with a firm No. Lambo comes running in with cake in his hands screaming "NGYAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS CAKE IS LAMBO-SAN'S!" with I-Pin following him, lecturing him about the cake not being his.

Lambo bumps into Akari and the cake goes flying onto Tsuna's face. Gokudera picks up the small child screaming, "Stupid cow!" into his face, making Lambo cry and jump into Akari's arms. She wipes his tears and says "'Sup Lambo." The child hugs her tightly making Gokudera even more mad, saying he shouldn't be hugging Akari like she's his girlfriend. Lambo screams back "AKARI'S MINE STUPIDERA!" and kisses her cheek, making Akari laugh at him saying he's cute and tells him to say sorry to Gokudera. He jumps down from her arms, looks up at Gokudera, and apologizes.

Tsuna is amazed that he now has such a cool older sister and asks for her autograph. She looks at him like he's mental for asking such a stupid question when she should be asking for his autograph because he's the future boss of the Vongola.

She checks the time on her watch and announces that they might be late if anymore time is wasted. Tsuna panics because he is still in his pajamas and needs to wash the cake off, so Reborn kicks him saying he should have been ready before Akari came, while Yamamoto thanks Akari for the heads up and jogs to school. Gokudera tries to decide whether he should wait until Tsuna is ready, or walk to school with Akari. He decides to stay for Tsuna and waves good-bye to Akari as she heads out the door.

At school, their homeroom teacher lets Akari introduce herself. "Hello, my name is Sawada Akari." she says before she bows to the class. Everyone except Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto laugh at her. A few students make remarks like "So you're related to Loser-Tsuna? That must suck!" and "I never knew he had a sister." She replies with "Yes I am related to him, but I'm nothing like him. In fact, I just met him this morning." Everyone is curious to how these two siblings could have only met this morning. Akari understands the confusion so she explains to them how she grew up in Italy. The teacher asks if she knew any mafia members, and just as she is about to open her mouth to answer, he says "Just kidding!" and tells her to go to her seat.

A few classes later, it was lunch time. Yamamoto asks Akari if she was good at any sports. "A ton of them." she answers.

"Amazing! What about baseball?"

"Of course. To me, It's one of the easiest sports ever!"

"That's just like me!"

They chat for a little while longer, but then she sees Gokudera pass by. She apologizes to Yamamoto before leaving so suddenly to go to Gokudera. She taps on his shoulder and he quickly jumps as he turns around, holding dynamite in his hand. Not many people tap his shoulder on a daily basis so he doesn't know how to just turn and say "How's it going?"

At the sight of Akari, he puts his dynamite away and asks what she wants. She asks what's new with his life and how he's been. He replies with "Tenth has really changed my life for the better! He's strong and so kind!" with a big grin on his face that she hasn't seen in ages. She sadly looks down, getting a sincere "Are you okay?" and shoulder pat from Gokudera. She forces a smile, looks back up at him, and nods. He looks worried asking her if she's well nowadays.

"Of course you silly! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well... That last time I saw you... you... you were in the hospital."

"I'm alright! I'm fine and functioning right!"

"That's good to hear."

"If I weren't alright, I wouldn't be here you know. But... Do you really think Tsuna is right to become the Tenth?"

"How could you even say such a thing?! Of course he is!"

She sadly looks down again, saying, "That's nice," then looks up again, "but my masters would not be glad to hear that." He looks at her with a confused face asking who her masters were. She quickly covers her mouth and says she wasn't supposed to mention anything about them. He gets mad again and asks with a more firm tone, adding "Why wouldn't they like it?! Why can't you talk about them?!"

She bows and says she still can't say anything about them, and also apologizes for the burden she has caused. He ignores her and grabs her arm very angrily, exclaiming "Tell me!" Just as she is about to refuse again, her watch starts to beep. She apologizes once again and runs behind some bushes to answer the video-chat watch.


	2. Chapter 2

"VOOIIIII!" comes from her watch. "Damn it!" she screams as she covers her watch, "Keep it down you idiot!" Xanxus pushes Squalo out of the camera shot. She nods as a thank you and asks what he wanted, so he asks her if there was anything to report. "He was really nice and innocent, but I can tell he's strong. He's kind of babyish and, at school, he's known as Dame-Tsuna." she reports. As Xanxus is about to close the line, Lussuria jumps in. "Hiiiii~! How's my little girl doing~? Are you ok~?" he cheerfully says.

"I'm fine Lussuria." she replies.

"Okay. Just checking~ Oh? You're not wearing the makeup I gave you!"

"I do not need it on a daily basis."

"But you shouldn't waste farewell presents like that!"

"I'm not going to waste it. I'd be wasting it if I used it everyday. Besides, im saving it for special occasions."

"Like reuniting with the Boss?" Interrupts Levi, with sparkles in his eyes.

Akari gives him a weird look, shakes her head, and tells him it's not that special. Xanxus gives her a nasty glare and calls her scum for that comment. Lussuria asks her what kind of occasions she has in mind. She shrugs as she says "Parties" tentatively.

Showing the caring side of him, Squalo asks what kind of parties she has in mind, hoping she wont say any kind of bad, nasty parties, with his loud and firm voice. She scolded him for being too loud again and called him an idiot a second time. Xanxus told her not to mind them, and closes the line. She rolls her eyes and stands up, flicking tiny twigs and leaves off of her legs.

When she turns around, she sees Gokudera looming over her. "What the Fu-" she screams before he covers her mouth and pins her to a fence. "Who were you talking to." he demands, more than asking. She looks at him with an apathetic expression and turns her head away. Getting pissed off, Gokudera repeats himself with a more firm tone "I'll ask one more time. Who. Were. You. Talking to." and lifts his hands from her wrists. After she rubs her wrists and tells him she's not obligated to tell anyone, she slaps his hands away, since they were still in her way, and tells him she can't waste any time with him, adding that she needed to spend time with her -she chuckles- brother, and walks away.  
He looks at her with a sorrowful look and thinks "You've changed... What have they done to you?"

Later in history class, their Teacher informs the class about a pop quiz they were supposed to have that day. Everyone slightly freaks out and turns to whoever's next to them. "But," he says, "that wouldn't be very fair for our new student." Everyone sighs and cheers in relief and thanks Akari for coming to the school around this time. She quickly stands up and tells the teacher not to take her so lightly just beacuse she's new. "I know more than you think, sir. Let us take the test." she demands.

"Well then, tell me what you know ." asks the teacher.

She rambles for about ten minutes about Japanese history, then adds, "Other than all the Japanese history I just summarized. I know about the Mayans and how they created Xocolatl, that's chocolate. I know what both Montezuma's Revenge is, not including the rollercoaster in America. The scientific revolution in Italy and how artist Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, A.K.A. Leonardo da Vinci, dissected bodies with Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, A.K.A. Michelangelo, just so they can study human anatomy to paint/ sculpt/ draw human bodies better. How priests sold fake "tickets to heaven", which name I can not remember at the moment so I apologize, just to make money. My most favorite thing is Dante degli Alighieri's Divine Comedy which is an Epic poem about Dante's journey through the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. I would go into details but I don't want these students to get scared."  
The teacher, and students, are dumbfounded. "It seems we no longer have to take the quiz."

After school Akari asks Tsuna if he wants to have dinner with her. Of course he agrees but Yamamoto, having overheard her offer, jumps in and asks if he can tag along too. Naturally, she approves, but Gokudera also joins in and says, "Where ever Tenth goes, I go." also getting approval from Akari. Just then, Tsuna turns around because he hears a familiar voice calling his name. "Ryohei!" exclaims Tsuna when the caller came up to him. "What are you doing and who's the girl?" asks Ryohei.

"I'm going to have dinner with everyone, and she's my older sister." replies Tsuna.

"Yo." Greets Akari.

"You have an older sister?! And you didn't tell me?!"

"Well... I just found out about her this morning."

"What kind of sibling love is that?!"

"One better than mine." claims Gokudera.

"I wasn't talking to you, Octopus-head!" Ryohei exclaims.

"You never said you _weren't_ talking to me!" retorts Gokudera.

"Just shut up!" screams Akari, "Would you like to join us this evening, Ryohei?"

He happily nods and thanks her for the invitation. Before they leave the school, Akari thinks about inviting Hibari. "Should I invite Kyoya?" she thinks, "But I don't want him to freak out, when he sees me. Especially in front of people..."

She takes them to an Italian restaurant some where on the outskirts of town. They walk inside and take their seats inside the large beautiful room with pillars, vines with wax or plastic grapes, wine bottles, clothed tables, and brick walls. Tsuna says he didn't know there was an Italian restaurant in Namimori so Akari tells him it just opened today. "How the hell could you know about this place when u also came today?" complains Gokudera. Akari tilts her head left to right as she tells him "Well..." tilt "It's top secret and" tilt "I might get scolded" tilt "or punished" tilt "by my masters" tilt "for telling anyone" tilt "about-"

"Stop that!" screams Gokudera "It's annoying!"

"It..." Akari continues.

Ryohei laughs a hearty laugh and pats her shoulder. "I hear you, my master trains me to a pulp if I don't follow his orders!"  
She looks up and tells him she wouldn't exactly be trained to a pulp. Probably just beaten badly. Yamamoto gasps and tells her it's not very nice of her masters and that she should ask for a less painful punishment. She shrugs and claims it's their_ sinful_ nature.

A man wearing a black and white suit, short spiky black hair with blonde highlights, and a small goatee comes to their table with a small notepad and pen. "My name is Genesio and I will be your waiter this evening." he greets, bowing. Akari asks for her usual meal, Tsuna shyly asks for Fettucini Alfredo, Gokudera orders Vongola Lasanga, Ryohei loudly asks for Pasta, and Yamamoto happily orders Salmon. After Genesio writes the orders down, he asks for their drinks. Akari nonchalantly asks for wine. "Them too?" Genesio asks. "No, their under-aged." Gokudera screams that she is too so she orders Apple Ale. Gokudera orders Grape Soda, Tsuna asks for Apple Juice, Ryohei once again loudly asks for Orange soda, and Yamamoto orders Milk. Genesio nods and walks away. "What the hell is up with you and milk?!" Gokudera questions Yamamoto. "What the hell is up with you saying 'What the hell' all the time?" asks Akari. "I should be asking the same thing!" Gokudera exclaims.  
Wanting them to stop fighting, Yamamoto smiles and tells him beverages are beverages no matter where you are, pissing Gokudera off even more. Trying to take his anger out on Akari, he harshly asks her why Genesio knows her usual order and what Apple Ale is. She explains that there's a restaurant just like this in Italy, and the staff there moved to Japan to work and learn abroad. That explains why she knew so much about this place. "But that Genesio guy looked like he was in his mid 20's" thought Tsuna. He disregards the thought and asks if she's going to ditch them and make them pay for the meal, hoping she'll say no.  
She shakes her head and comforts him by saying it's on her. To her, doing things like ditching the party and making them pay is rude, but she's in no position to say that so she keeps her mouth shut. Tsuna apologizes before asking when and how she and Gokudera-kun met. She scratches the back of her head, tells him there's no need for apologies, and tells him she was training.

"And...?" asks all the boys, except Gokudera. She slightly blushes as she starts off by saying "To be honest..." she blushes harder "I kind of-"

"Here are your drinks!" Genesio says as he hands them out. "Your food will be ready shortly~"


	3. Chapter 3

Akari thanks Genesio with a warm smile. He bows and says your welcome, with an equally warm smile and walks away. Akari sips her cup and gives a sigh of satisfaction. "Perfection~" she says. Tsuna gave her a questioning look and asked her what Apple Ale was; It was a mixture of Ginger Ale and Apple Juice. "That's extreme to the max!" exclaims Ryohei. She looks up and tells him she's done more extreme things than that, like mixing orange soda, cherry soda, a bit of lemonade, two types of cola, root beer, and lemon iced tea. "That's WAY too extreme!" thought Tsuna.

Since he was really curious, Yamamoto went back to the previous subject and asked Akari to continue her story. "I was training." she said.

"You ran into a bunch of thugs!" exclaimed Gokudera.

"I was wandering the streets searching for a store my master wanted me to go to so I could pick up a package. Therefore, it was training."

"In what world?!" cried Tsuna.

Ignoring Tsuna's question, Ryohei asked her what happened when the thugs showed up. She started to blush again. "Well... He looked really cool when he beat them up! And his face looked cute in a weird, scary kind of way when he asked me if I was alright."

"I think you need to take therapy." whispers Ryohei.

"I heard that!" yelled Gokudera, but he thought, "She thinks I'm cute... But she never said she liked me." Yamamoto sees Gokudera spacing out and asks him if he's feeling okay. At the sound of Akari's beeping watch, he snaps out of it.  
She stands up and bows to apologize, "I'm sorry, I need to take this call." and walks to the bathroom.

Tsuna asks Gokudera who Akari went to talk to, but he didn't know. It's been months since he'd last seen her. "When I asked her earlier, she said she wasn't obligated to say who it was." said Gokudera. Yamamoto thought it must be important if it was that secretive. "It is." said a little voice. Tsuna jumped out of his seat, screaming "Reborn!" and Gokudera helped him up. "Hey, it's the kid!" exclaimed Yamamoto.  
Gokudera asked him what he wanted and he told them she was talking to her family and then asked Gokudera if he knew why she was so busy with them. "How am I supposed to know?! Last time I saw her, she was in the hospital!" he screamed.

"Do you know why?" asked Reborn.

"Because... Because she was hit by a speeding car..."

"Guess you don't know the whole story." he said. He then jumped down from the table and told them he was leaving before Akari came back. Tsuna asked why he was leaving so soon. Reborn didn't like her, but he didn't want them to know that, so he left without saying a word.

Wanting to break the awkward silence, Ryohei changed the subject to how much pain Akari must have been in when she was hit by the car. Gokudera started arguing over how stupid that was because the answer was obvious. Thinking Ryohei was still unable to comprehend her pain, he explained her injuries. "She shattered eight bones, twisted her ankles, and broke her ribs! She was in the hospital for months, and I left her before she was released..."  
Tsuna cried, "That's horrible!"

Akari creeped up from behind and screamed "Boo!" then asked what was horrible. They looked at each other and Ryohei screamed "I'm so sorry!" and hugged her waist tight. She tried to push him off but his grip was too much. As she kept struggling to release his grip, she pleaded for help. "No! She's in pain!" he cried.

"Who in the world would do such a thing?!" he lastly screamed. Genesio came by to tell them he was causing disturbances and tapped Ryohei's neck. He was knocked out. Everyone's eyes bugged out. "Oh my God!" screamed Tsuna, "What did you do to him?!" Genesio ignored Tsuna and asked Akari what the call was about. Her cheeks started to get a hint of pink, which spread fast. "Never mind. I wont ask." said Genesio, and backed away slowly.


	4. Chapter 4

A yawn. The first thing he heard before he felt movement coming from his bed. "Morning Tsu-kun~" shortly came after. Tsuna quickly turned around and crawled up against the wall. "Wh-wh-wh- why are you-?!" he screamed before Reborn interrupted him informing him about Akari's new bed next to his. "Well I'm not used to this kind of stuff!" Tsuna retorted, "Why doesn't she sleep somewhere else?!"  
She wasn't expecting something like that, especially from Tsuna.  
"Aww~ that's so mean Tsukkun~ In this house, I don't have anywhere else to sleep near my adorkable little brother!" she said, then pouted while crossing her arms.

Tsuna felt bad, but he still didn't want her to sleep next to him, so he shyly offered to make her a bed on the floor. Reborn slapped him with Leon in house slipper form and told him he needed to know how to treat women correctly if he was going to become a proper Mafia boss. They started another argument about his succession, so she left them a note before she got ready and left for school.

"She did what?!" Gokudera loudly questioned as he slammed his hand on Tsuna's desk.

"L-like I said, she slept next to me. I was really freaked out when I woke up this morning!" Tsuna repeated.

"Ahahaha~" laughed Yamamoto, "If you were having a sleep-over, why didn't you call us over?"

"Stupid! She's his sister, remember?!" reminded Gokudera.

"Oh, haha. I must have forgotten. I'm still not used her yet~" Yamamoto said cheerfully.

Tsuna reached into his bag to get out a pencil, and remembered her note. "And she left this before I even apologized for yelling at her like that." he told them when they read the note.

"_If you're so uncomfortable about it, I'll sleep somewhere else from now on."_

This agitated Gokudera very much. How could someone_ not_ want to be around Tenth all the time, he thought, and stormed across the room to her desk and demanded that she tell him where she was staying at. She looked up towards the ceiling before answering, as if it were minorly trivial and on the tip of her tongue. "I don't know." she bluntly said.  
Yamamoto came by and, unlike Gokudera, greeted her with a friendly hello, receiving one back from Akari. "Um... Hayato-kun?" Akari asked shyly. Why was she calling him that? _Now_ of all times. She wanted something. Yes, she wanted something from him, and he knew it. "You feel kind of comfy around me, right?" she asked.

"Um, I guess. But what does that have to do with anything!?" he yelled.

"Can I sleep at your house tonight?" she asked.

Before he could say anything, Yamamoto stepped in. "I want to sleep over too! ...Hayato-kun!"

"Idiot!" exclaimed Gokudera, "Both of you can't sleep over! And don't copy Akari like that, it's weird!"

Akari started to pout, and shouted to the whole class, "You're such a jerk!" Everyone started laughing and told her she was pretty brave for stating that out loud.

Once everyone calmed down and went back to what they were doing, she asked Yamamoto the same question. "I promise it's just for this one night! I'd hate to be a bother..." she pleaded. Gokudera butted in and told her she couldn't sleep at his house either. Both looked at him with an 'Are You Serious?!' face and told him it wasn't up to him. "Of course you can sleep over. I'm sure my dad will say yes." said Yamamoto.

Later that day, after school, they were about to walk outside the gate but Akari stopped and told them to wait for a while. "I need to turn in a report real quick!" she said before running back inside. Gokudera gripped Yamamoto's collar and strictly told him not to try anything funny on her. "Like what?" Yamamoto asked.  
"Like..." Gokudera started. His face started to get red before he continued, "Like kissing, peeking, or anything else perverted!"  
There was a quick silence while Yamamoto was trying to think of something to say. He also started to get red and told him, "No no no no no. I-I wouldn't do anything like that on purpose!"

"Che. You'd better not. I'll blow you to pieces if you do!" warned Gokudera before he walked home.

In an empty classroom, Akari sat down on a desk and turned on her video-watch. No one was in the camera's view at the moment so she yelled, "Hey!"  
The first thing she heard was an "Ushishi." coming from behind a chair before someone responded. "We're here," said Belphegor, "but Boss isn't." She rolled her eyes and rubbed her temple with her free hand. "What a nuisance." she muttered.

"What did you just say." she heard. It wasn't Bel's voice, but a much deeper one. When she looked back at the small screen, she flinched at the sight of Xanxus. "I'll fucking kill you if you ever say that about me again." he said.

"Fine fine, I got you Mr. Grumpy Pants. I'll just report and get this over with so just sit tight and keep your mouth shut." she told him.

"I'm not _fucking_ kidding. I will kill you with my bare hands if you don't stop this bullshit right now, woman." he threatened.  
Her face didn't look any different even after he said that. She wasn't scared of him because she knew he'd never kill her; He couldn't kill her even if he tried.

Lussuria and Mammon came before she informed Xanxus about the incident that morning, and the way Tsuna freaked out. Lussuria thought it was sweet and adorable while Bel said he would've killed him on the spot. Mammon said he would either make him pay or also kill him. "Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid. Your all so freaking stupid." she said as she closed the line.

Outside, Yamamoto was leaning against the gate's wall. "Shall we leave?" he asked.  
"We shall~" she answered.


	5. Chapter 5

At Yamamoto's house, Yamamoto introduced Akari to his father, Tsuyoshi. Tsuyoshi thought, "What...? Is that h-his girlfriend?" At that moment, it seemed like Akari knew what he was thinking and told him she wouldn't do anything weird to Yamamoto, "He's such a nice person."

"Oh, haha, did you think he thought we were dating?" asked Yamamoto.

"I didn't think, I knew. All dads are like that, even if their personalities are different. Oh yeah, here's a present." she said, and got a medium sized fish from her bag and handed it to Yamamoto. "I heard you two cook pretty good sushi so I asked someone if they could get it for me. I hear only the best chefs could cook this."

"I hear only the best fishermen could catch it too." said Tsuyoshi, "You'd have to go to the roughest part of the ocean and dive into the water because it lives so deep."

"Yep."

"And you would need many weapons to fight off the sharks in the area."

"Yep."

"And there are more sharks than that fish in the area."

"Mhmm."

"And you would have to be strong and fast."

"Si."

"And brave."

"You got that right."

"... How do you know someone who can possibly catch this fish?"

"I know many people who have weird professions. One just happens to know how to do stuff like that."

"And you're giving it to us?"

"Yes sir!"

"Thank you very much!"

"You're very welcome."

"Ah! Then we'll have this for dinner as a special thank you. Would you mind helping me cook this Takeshi?"

"No problem dad." says Yamamoto, "but first I have to show Akari to my room so she can put her stuff down."  
She looks down at his walking feet as they go to his room. She almost ran into his back when they reached their destination.  
He let her rest in the room as he went back to the kitchen to help with the dish. She got the futon ready and sat there as she waited.

Minutes later, she was called to the table and had one of the best dinners of her life. She had delicious Japanese food (she's mostly been eating Italian delicacies) and listened to Yamamoto and his father talk about Yamamoto's little league baseball games. After the meal, she thanked them for the wondrous time she had and hoped to re-live it again.

She walked back to Yamamoto's room to change and thought to herself, "Should I report right now? ... I might get in trouble for not being at Tsuna's house though. Well, I guess I'll turn it off so it doesn't wake up Yamamoto." As she was taking her shirt off, Yamamoto walks in asking, "Would you-?" but stops there and closes the door shut when he sees her shirtless. "I'm sorry Gokudera-kun! I really am!" he screams outside of his door.

Yamamoto is in the fetal position and when Akari re-opens the door he apologizes, saying, "I'm sorry Akari! I thought you were done changing!" She bends down to ruffle his hair and tells him it was perfectly fine. He looks up at her with a puzzled expression and asks, "Are you sure?" so she smiles and nods. After helping him up, she asks, "Why were you saying sorry to Gokudera-kun? He's not even here.. Unless he's spying on us! ...And you knew?! Why would you do that to me?!"

"Hahaha. Calm down, Akari-chan, you're over thinking this! He told me not to do anything, like kissing, peeking, or anything perverted to or at you!" he says as he tries to back her off of him.

"...Is that all? And here I thought you guys didn't trust me. I should calm down and go to bed before I think anything else."

When she turned around to walk into his room, he grabbed her arm and quickly exclaimed, "Wait!" She positioned herself to face him properly and waited for him to continue. "I hate to postpone your rest," he said, "but could you help me with something first?"

They put on sweaters and headed outside with a baseball. "This was what I was going to ask you before the incident earlier," he told her as they walked, "Heh, sorry about that.. And I'm sorry that I asked you to help me practice for an upcoming game." She slowly waved her hand as if to shoo some birds away to silently tell him it was fine. She was too cold, even with a sweater, to speak.

Yamamoto told her to stand in front of the wall so, if ever the case, the ball wont get lost. He gets into position and throws one of his fast balls. As it comes flying towards her she thinks. "Fast.." and lifts up her hand to catch it. A light brush of air hits her face as it lands in her hand. Shocked, but happy, Yamamoto ran up to her and said, "Sugoi na! No one's ever been able to catch my fast balls so easily! You should join the Baseball team!"  
Handing the ball over to him, Akari thought for a moment and finally answered, "I wouldn't know what position to play though."

"Are you good at batting and running?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure I am. I would practice sword fighting by slicing apples that were thrown at me. I made sure my sword and the floor was clean so we could eat them right after. Also, I've practically been running my whole life so asking me that would be like asking you if you liked baseball." was her response.

"Wow! Can you pitch?" he also asked.

"I would always play a not-so-friendly game of dodge-ball and always hit my opponents hard whenever I got a ball, so yes, I can pitch." she answered.

"Can you act fast?" was his final question.

"Yes." she simply answered.

"Then you're basically fit for all positions! Why not try out? I'm sure you'll make the team!" he proclaimed. She thought for a moment again and sighed before telling him her answer, "I don't know, I'm kind of busy at the most random times so I don't know if i'll be able to commit to it. Gomennasai."

Just then, Tsuyoshi called them in for bed.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Akari woke up early and gathered all her stuff together so she wouldn't be a burden right when they were going to leave. Tsuyoshi opened the door and was surprised to see Akari awake so early. "Could you please tell Takeshi that breakfast is ready while I set the table?" he quietly asked. She nodded and heard the door close when she started to gently shake Yamamoto. He yawned as he woke up and rubbed one eye, stretched with his other arm, and looked at her, greeting her good morning and asked for the time. Not wanting to look at a watch or clock, she answered, "It's time for breakfast."  
She helped him up after he was fully awake and ready to get up then they walked side by side to the kitchen.

After breakfast, the two teenagers chatted as they cleaned the table and washed the dishes.

"What should we do after this?" asked Yamamoto.

"Tsuna's house? They're all probably worried about me spending the night when I just barely came back into their lives a few days ago." answered Akari.

"Haha, then Tsuna's house it is!" announced Yamamoto, "But first we have to get ready."

With a plan for the day, the two worked faster and hurried to get ready. After they were both set, they headed out the door with Yamamoto telling his dad where they were going as they walked out of the house.

"I see them." announced Reborn before he put his binoculars down and jumped off the window sill. Tsuna sat up and asked who he saw exactly, but Reborn told him he'd see soon enough and walked out of the room. Worried, Tsuna got up and chased after him saying, "Don't tell me it's more mafia people!" Reborn stopped a few inches away from the front door and told Tsuna to just open it. Without question, Tsuna nervously opened the door only to see his sister and Yamamoto. He got less tense at the sight of them and greeted them. Reborn also greeted them with his "Ciaossu." and they both responded with a "Hey Reborn. Yo Tsuna."  
From the kitchen, Nana loudly asks, "Akari-chan? Are you home?" A smile appears on Akari's face at the voice of her mother and says, "Hai, Okaa-san!" then she runs to the kitchen. "Mama, I'm thirsty, may I please have a drink?" Akari asks. Nana asks what she would like and is asked for wine. "Wine?" Nana says questionably, "Why?"

"I'm craving it. May I please have some?" Akari beggingly asks. Reborn jumps onto her shoulder and tells Nana it's okay for her to have some. She thinks for a few minutes and gives a big sigh before getting out of her chair to get a bottle of wine. When she comes back, she informs Akari that it was the last bottle before handing it to her.

The moment Akari touched the bottle, she felt something coming from it. Something familiar like... herself. She starred wide eyed at it for a while before Reborn asked her what the matter was. Worried, Nana said, "I'm sorry! Do you not like that kind of wine? I can go out and buy some more-"

"No," interrupted Akari, "Please do not do that. This wine is perfect."

"You mean the wine from my wedding?"

"Yes... This wine... is very special to me..." she started to sniffle.

The two boys who were standing in front of the door came running in at the sound of her crying and asked what had happened. "Reborn, what did you do?!" exclaimed Tsuna. "Nothing, she found something she's very grateful to." retorted Reborn.

"Yep! Saved my life~" added Akari.

"You're life?!" cried Tsuna as his mom smiled, puzzled at the new topic at hand.

"Haha, that's what I heard!" said Yamamoto.

"Can I please keep this wine bottle?" begged Akari.

"If it's that important to you then I don't mind." answered Nana.

Akari bowed and ran upstairs to put it away in the bag she left in Tsuna's room. After she ran into his room Gokudera showed up greeting Tsuna with an "Ohayo gozaimasu, Juudaime!" then a "What are you doing here, baseball freak?!" when he turned and saw Yamamoto. Nicely answering his question with a smile, Yamamoto told him he came to drop off Akari after she spent the night at his house. Eyes widening and anger slowly rising, Gokudera asks, "You didn't do anything like I said, right?! I know you're an idiot but I'm pretty sure I made it as simple as I could." Clueless, Tsuna asks about the situation, "What are you talking about Gokudera-kun?" but is surprisingly ignored.  
Yamamoto scratches the back of his head as a hint of pink spreads across his cheeks when he tells Gokudera, "Well... I saw her take her shirt off..."

Before kicking Yamamoto to the ground he calls him a bastard and reminds him of his promise. Yamamoto stands up and replies, "I said I wouldn't do it on purpose. It was an accident!"

"Don't you dare start acting like a smart-ass towards me!"

The tension in the room, mainly from Gokudera, rises but is soon interrupted by Reborn. "It's taking Akari longer than it should be." he says.  
Tsuna volunteers to check up on her and rushes upstairs to his room only to see her lying on the floor unconscious. "Akari?!" he cries at the sight of her body. He rushes to her and shakes her body to wake her up. "Akari? Wake up!" She slowly opens her eyes so they can focus and clear her vision before speaking. Looking up at her little brother, they simultaneously ask, "What happened?"

"Haha, guess I cant hold my liquor?" She says with levity in her voice, "I did finish the rest of the bottle after all."

"You what?!" he exclaimed.

The others also rushed up when they heard all the commotion. Gokudera, being the most concerned, quickly asks what had happened. Akari says, once again, that she had fainted. Yamamoto asked why she'd fainted and her response was the fact that she finished the bottle. With a serious look on his face Reborn asks her, "You weren't going to keep it for analysis?" Her face becomes stern when she snapped back at him saying, "No!"

Tsuna and the other two teenagers were very confused with their conversation so he asked what they were talking about. Akari slowly shook her head to tell him it wasn't any of his business. Gokudera asked if he could know. "I was on my way to tell you..." she sadly started, "but that was the day I got hit by that car." She forced a smile. The three boys were shocked at the coincidence and were speechless until Reborn broke the silence by telling them it was no accident. All at once, the four frantically asked, "Then who did it?"

"Well... Someone knew her plans for that day and didn't want her to spill the beans so they attempted a hit-and-run murder."  
Face in a panic, Akari flailed her arms asking the question again. Reborn jumps onto her shoulder and whispers into her ear. When he is done, she stares at the ground with a somewhat solace expression choking out the words "He's alive...?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Yes, he is harder to trail than you." says Reborn, making the mood in the room serious as he tilts his fedora over his eyes.

"I guess..." says Akari.

"We lost him last year because he suddenly disappeared."

"..."

"No one knows where is current location is; his presence was lost out of nowhere."

"Um... who are you talking about?" asks Tsuna, reminding Akari there were other people in the room. She scratches the back of her head and forces a smile on her face. "I guess you could say he was my first master."

"Whoa! That's horrible!" exclaims Yamamoto. She nods. "I hope we can find him... Onee-chan!" Tsuna blurts out, realizing he's never called her that before. Akari chuckles and chokes out "Thanks." as she laughs at this bashful expression.

Gokudera blushes and looks to the side. "When you feel better, can we go to the park?" he asks Akari. Her face lights up with glee as she tries to stand up, but falls onto the bed, still unable to move. "You remembered?" she asks, smiling.

"Are you an idiot?" he blushed harder, "Of course I did!" Reborn looks at Gokudera, then at Akari, "Romatic." he bluntly says.

"Reborn!" the two simultaneously say.

"Hahaha," laughs Yamamoto, "Past lovers, eh?"

"No, just really good friends." Akari says to correct him, "He would push me on the swings and we would share a Popsicle, sitting on the benches, while looking at the scenery back when we were in Italy. Tsuna slowly raises his hand to get their attention, and comments, "Sounds like dating to me." and shrieks when Akari glares at him.

"It isn't a bad thing. I wish Kyoko and I could be like that." Reborn says with his Tsuna immitation.

"Stop reading my mind! That was seriously personal, Reborn!" cries Tsuna.

"Well you could always get help from a way older woman." Reborn says, looking at Akari.

"Yo, I'm not that old... I just started school late." says Akari.

"S-So how old are you?" asks Tsuna.

"You guys are about a year younger than me, 14 right? I turn fifteen and a half tomorrow." answers Akari.

"And I've already got you something!" Gokudera exclaims, face still slightly pink.

"Calm down there, Gokudera-kun," says Yamamoto as he rests his elbow on Gokudera's head with a smile, "She's not sixteen yet!"

Pushing his arm off and stepping away from the taller teenager, Gokudera quickly sneered at Yamamoto then looked back at Akari, changing his facial expression to a happier one with a smile. She smiles back and looks at Yamamoto. "You don't know how hard it was when we were in Italy. One birthday wasn't enough for us so we had half birthdays."

"Lucky..." mumbled Tsuna.

"We can start doing half birthdays for you too Juudaime!" Gokudera exclaimed when he heard Tsuna's comment.

"N-no thank you, Gokudera-kun. I'm fine with just one birthday celebration." Tsuna said.

Yamamoto stepped in and exclaimed, "Haha,It sounds like fun, we should all do it!" which only resulted with a glare and, "I only asked Juudaime!" from Gokudera.

Akari watched them quarrel for a bit as a respite from her conversation with Gokudera about her half-birthday. She sighed and accidentally turned all the attention to her. "Nani?" she asked them, "It was so lively just a second ago. I would have gladly joined in but my body is too sore. Which really sucks because I really wanted to go to the park." she said as she stretched the upper part of her body and yawned. "Shall I call him then?" Reborn asked her.  
She slightly tilted her head in question as to who Reborn was talking about. "Are you stupid?" Reborn jokingly, but also seriously, asked her before revealing the man's identity, "I'm talking about Trident Shamal." Her eyes widened when she heard the man's name. "Yes please! I mean... I would very much appreciate it if you called him." she coughed during the second part of her answer.

"Why do we have to call him?! She'll be fine!" Gokudera suddenly shouted.

"What have you been doing the past ten minutes?!" Tsuna exclaimed, obviously more concerned about his sister's health than Gokudera.

"No! The faster I heal, the better!" Akari exclaimed to Gokudera, ignoring Tsuna's comment.

"What are you talking about? You just want to see him." Gokudera said as he crossed his arms.

"There's nothing wrong with that." she said.

Gokudera clenched his teeth and hands. "Fine, do what you want."

"I will," she retorted, "and once I'm better, I can spend my half birthday with you and everyone else tomorrow." she said to try to convince him to lighten up.  
Reborn lightly threw his shoe at her to get her attention. "He's here."

"That was fast." Thought everyone else in the room.

"Akari-chan~! Are you okay?" Shamal vivaciously said as he leaped into the room.

"I'm fine." she said waving to him, "My legs are just sore so I can't exactly move."

He smirks. "If I kiss them everywhere will that make them feel better?" he said with twinkles in his eye.

Gokudera shouts, "What the hell is with you?!" He turns to Tsuna, "If anything, it'll make it worse, right tenth?!"

"If anything, I think Shamal will be the one who'll be in more pain." Tsuna thought, refusing to take part of the conversation.

"Stop screwing around, you perverted bastard," Akari told Shamal, "this is serious."

"Hmmmm, fine. Everybody out, I need to talk to Akari privately for a moment." He said, shooing them out like they were cats.

Gokudera refused to leave the room, "What makes you think i'm going to leave Akari alone with you?!"

"Gokudera-kun, I'll be fine." Akari says to persuade him to leave.

"Come on Gokudera, she can handle herself." Reborn said.  
Gokudera looked down at Reborn, then at Akari, then at Shamal. He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth and fists again. "Alright. I'll go, but only because Reborn-san said so."

They all walked out.

"PHEW." Shamal sighed as he stretched his arms and placed them behind his head, "I thought they'd never leave." He looked down at Akari, "So how did you get hurt? Were you running away again?" he said seriously but meant it in a sarcastic way.

"You know, if you're still mad at me then I'm very sorry. I'm sure the other women you sleep with keep you company." she said seriously.

Shamal lowered his hands into his coat pockets, "You're so serious. I was only kidding about the latter. Why are you so moody?" he complained.

"Because I can't move my legs!" she yelled as she flung her arms up, but quickly put them back down when she felt a sharp pain coming from her shoulders. "I guess it's my arms too..." she said glumly.

"If you tell me why you can't walk then I can help you. You know I treat cute girls for free~" he said with a smirk.

"I know, I know." she said, annoyed with that side of him, "...I drank the wine bottle."

He scratched the back of his head before telling her the problem, "You probably gained too much energy and your body is trying to either adjust to it, or your body cant handle it, so it makes your body sore."

"But I need to celebrate my half-birthday tomorrow." she said, determined.

"I think I have something to make you and your bones rest faster, but it'll knock you out quick."

"How long?"

"About 24 hours, but for you, I'd say maybe 15-16 hours." He handed her a pill.

"Okay. Thank you."

"No problem. Now can I have a kiss?" he says with puckered lips, leaning towards her. She turns her head away so he only kisses her cheek.

"Do I have to drink water with this?" Akari asks, wiping her kissed cheek. He shakes his head. "Alright." she says, and swallows the pill.

Everyone walks in as Shamal picks up Akari. "What are you doing to my sister?" asks Tsuna.

"Damn pervert!" exclaims Gokudera.

Shamal fixes her position on his shoulders and winks at the silver haired middle schooler saying, "That's right~ And she's staying at my hotel tonight, kiddo."

"What?!" Gokudera concurrently exclaims with Tsuna. Ignoring their remark, Shamal merrily walks out of the room, humming with a smug expression on his face.

"She's not going to be very happy when she wakes up tomorrow morning..." mumbles Reborn.


	8. Chapter 8

Non di Nuovo: Italian for "Not Again."  
Nein: German for "No."

* * *

Later that day, Shamal arrives at his hotel. "It's gotten late, I had to walk all the way here because those cab drivers thought I was suspicious and the train station thought the same too! ...I got her away from them them but what do I do with her now..?" Shamal asks himself when he gently lays her on his bed. Her face was peaceful, with a bit of saliva on the verge of coming out of her mouth. She closed her mouth to swallow and turned over to face away from Shamal. "Geez, it's almost like she's awake." he thought, then said, "It's so cute! I just want to kiss her all over!" and turned her back over to see her face. She looked disturbed now, almost like she was having a nightmare but not quite. "N-n...san..." she muttered.  
He stared at her for a while. "I should get her into some pajamas. She'll be uncomfortable if she sleeps in those clothes."

He looks through his closet only to see that he didn't have any pj's that would be appropriate for her. He sighs before taking a large T-shirt out from his closet. "Such an unusual way to wear sleep-attire." he says as he examines the shirt for any stains or tears.  
Seeing that the shirt is flawless, he places the hanger back into the closet and returns to his bed. Blushing, he removes her blouse and shorts and places the T-shirt on her, removing her bra from under it. He holds it up to his face and says, "Hmm, I think she grew a size." and sets it down to fold her clothes and put them in a bag. "Ahh, a cute defenseless girl in my bed. It's like deja vu except she's 15." He figured he should also start resting because he knew the next day was going to be a mess. The couch was too messy to sleep on– with no place to temporarily move the various articles– and he had no extra blankets to use on the floor. He glances at her and sighs. "I guess there's no other choice. At least I have a bed big enough for two grown people." he thought as he stepped into the bathroom to change into his pajamas.

As he gently moved her to the side so he could have room for himself, her head tilted away from him leaving her neck exposed. He gulped to try to hold back his lips from touching her smooth, slender neck and thought about something while looking at her with a serious expression, then found the urge to resist. He turned away and his back faced her as they slept.

That morning, she woke up to find herself in his bed and thought, "Non di nuovo..." She placed her hand on his cheek and looked at him. "Wake up you perverted old man." she repeated as she pulled on his cheek. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow!" he cried when he woke up from the pain, "I'm awake, I'm awake!"  
After they settled down, Shamal explained what had happened. "Okay, it seems you aren't so perverted. But you're still an old man." said Akari, sticking her tongue out at him.  
"Hey, I'm just as perverted as the last time, maybe even more," he reminded her, "I just wasn't in the mood last night."

"...About that t-time..." she stuttered.

"Hmm? What about it?" he asked.

"Um... Th-thanks for being gentle with me. I really appreciated it." Akari said as she covered her mouth, blushing, obviously embarrassed about the subject.

"Oh? Have you been watching naughty videos? Fufu, I'd be glad to–"

"No!" she interrupted, "I'm fine!"

"Okay." he paused for a moment and took a breath before speaking again, "Is it because they told you not to do it? Is it because you've already experienced it and don't need to do it again? Is it because you're still too young to do those kind of assignments?" asked Shamal.

"It's neither of those." she said looking down.

"I see." Shamal said, placing his fist under his chin with his index finger bent just a little higher than the others so it covers his chin, "No matter how many times you or anyone else asks me to join, I wont." he said with conviction.

"I already know that. I'm not here for you."

"Then why are you here?"

She quickly looked up at him, trying not to show him how panicked she was, "For my brother, why else?" He looked at her indifferently, "Hmm, it doesn't seem like it's in your nature to so such a thing. You came here just for Tsunayoshi?"

"Yes, I'm here because of him. There's nothing wrong with that. So what about you; why are you here?"

"Same as you. For Tsunayoshi. Plus, there are so many cute Japanese girls in this town! I can't leave until I've kissed every single one of them."

"That's... not so surprising. Did Reborn ask you to be Tsuna's doctor or something?"

"He had skullitis and I was called to get rid of it."

"But you–"

"Yeah, I felt sorry for the guy because the longest conversation he's ever had with a girl he liked was only three minutes! Kind of pathetic if you ask me. I'm sure he'll score some girls when he officially becomes the Tenth."  
"Yeah... When he becomes Tenth..."

After they ate breakfast, Akari announced she was going to take a bath. "Shall I go with you to wash your back?" Shamal asked.  
"Of course not!" she yelled as she shut the door behind her, going into the bathroom. She noticed she had everything she needed, soaps and all, except a towel. She slowly opened the door to check if he was nearby so she could ask for a towel. Shamal jumped in front of her and yelled, "Boo!" to her face. She fell back– as he burst with laughter– and grabbed his hand to stand up then quickly grabbed the towel in his other hand with a grunt He was trying to take a breath from laughing so hard but Akari kicked his shin and he also fell back. The door slammed shut as he wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. "I'm sorry! I just never thought you, of all people, would react like that." said Shamal as he pulled a chair to sit on, "Can we talk while you take your bath?" There was no reply from her– just the sound of a faucet turning on, rushing hot water into the tub. "It's okay. I'll just get the key and unlock the door so I can let myself in." he said with confidence.  
"...Go away. There's something you need in bathrooms and it's called privacy." Akari retorted, worried that he wasn't bluffing.  
"You're no fun." he mumbled as he got up and returned the chair to its original place before lying on the couch to take a nap while she bathed. Akari soaked in it for a while and thought about the real reason why she came to Japan. Sure, she was doing an assignment but she could have refused, although, she was the only one who could get close to Tsuna without being suspicious about it, so it was a job suited only for her. But she thought of _why_ she agreed to it. She honestly didn't care whether she met her brother or not, but she had to keep a promise. An important promise she made twelve years ago.

After bathing she walked to the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, and wore the clothes she'd worn yesterday: her light aqua green blouse and sky blue shorts. They weren't too dirty, from what she remembered. She didn't know how Shamal carried her from Tsuna's house to the hotel, but she trusted that he didn't go through anywhere too filthy to get there. Thought, it didn't really matter if her clothes were dirty or not because it was the only thing she could wear. She didn't bring a suitcase and Shamal definitely didn't bring hers. It was her only choice, other than wearing the clothes Shamal had, but she knew they would be ridiculously large on her.

With wet hair she stood above Shamal and went back to the bedroom to fetch a blanket for him so he wouldn't catch a cold. She placed it on him but his shoulder was uncovered so she bent down to fix it. As she was about to stand back up, he pulled her in– tightly– and cuddled with her. Akari was about to yell to wake him up so that he can let go of her, but she thought about it again and didn't want to wake him up; she squirmed around to try to wiggle herself from his grip.  
Shamal's grasp tightens a bit and brings her a little bit closer to him– so close she can feel his warm breath on her neck. The feel of his breath makes her slightly blush even though she knows he isn't purposely doing it. "..Umm... Sh-Shamal-san..." she says as she finches. He moves a little and inhales the aroma of her strawberry shampoo– her hair still freshly wet.

Her damp hair awakens him, but he remains calm. His hand tangles through her hair while the other holds her waist. Her shoulders jump as she feels she doctor's lips gently press on her neck. "I thought you were asleep." she angrily said.

"You woke me up." he replied as he slowly licked her neck. Akari quickly stood up and roughly wiped her neck with her hand. "You're the one who pulled me!"

"Really? And here I thought you really wanted to cuddle with me." he said as he turned to his side, facing her, and rested his head in the palm of his hand.

"Who would want to do that? There are very few people in this world I would enjoy and willingly cuddle with, and you definitely aren't one of them!"

"Who are they? Your dad? Brother? Mom?"

"Nein." she answered as she shook her head, "The two people I truly care about, and one is Hayato-kun..."

"Not surprising. Who's the other?"

She took a deep breath, and just as she was about to say the name, her watch beeped.

She had to report.


	9. Chapter 9

Everything that has happened so far was written in 2010-2011 so there might be a slight change in writing style from here on out xD I hope you like it ^^

* * *

Shamal sat up and stared at her beeping watch without expression. "Answer it." he demanded, creating an even worse knot in her stomach.

"Do I really have to? My hair is still wet and–"

He stood up, looming over her. "I know who it is. Answer it."

Akari bent her head down in shame and pressed a button on her watch. "Ciao, amore mio~" says a voice from the watch, "Just kidding." The blonde assassin stuck his tongue out at the camera. "Boss is upset with you because you didn't report yesterday. You're lucky he's taking a nap right now, but he was tearing everything apart yesterday."

Shamal was back on the couch to stay away from the camera angle of Akari's watch so he wouldn't be found out. Who knows what they would do to him if they knew she was his company. Throughout their conversation he was very lenient of the remarks the teen on the other side of the line was saying about Tsuna, but it seemed that Belphegor knew Akari was with someone because he did not say anything of much importance– in fact he was being quite vague– other than mention of a ring and a wedding. This raised the adult's curiosity because he knew the type of people they were; obviously they were not the type for weddings.

The start of this conversation sparked a hint of anger in Akari. Did she not like the bride? The groom? Was she in love with the groom and was too shy and too late to convey her feelings towards him? Or maybe she wanted to be a bridesmaid but wasn't chosen to be one. So many possibilities popped into the adult's mind. He wanted the thoughts to stop so he tried to think of something else, but his brain stuck close to the subject and imagined Akari in a wedding dress– her long, black hair up in a bun, covered by a veil, along with wearing a beautiful, sleeveless, lengthy white dress with frills at the end and anonymous people behind her holding it up so it wouldn't drag too much. The area of the dress from the waist up was decorated with intricate designs that branched out in swirls that occasionally crossed each other and also sparkled. Such a beautiful sight. He was dazed from his own creativity.

Akari was long finished with her conversation when she finally decided to snap him out of his trance. "Shamal. Hey, Shamal-san?" she called out as she snapped her fingers in front of his face every time she spoke his name until he blinked and shook his head. "I'm sorry," there was a tint of red on his cheeks when their eyes briefly met, "What did you two talk about? What is this about a wedding?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing important. I don't really want to go, but it's unavoidable. The whole wedding should just be canceled."

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"Why would you marry someone you don't love, especially if you're in love with someone else?"

He understood now: The groom was having an affair on his bride with Akari. Typical drama. He had to know the details to this juicy love triangle.

Shamal leaned back into the couch, folding his arms behind his head. "So what's the story? Who was in love with who first?"

"He was, obviously."

"A two-timer!? Oh man! So who did he love first?"

"... I don't understand."

"Did he like you first or the bride?"

"I don't get what you're saying, old man."

"The groom loves you but has to marry his bride, right?"

Akari couldn't help but laugh. He had misunderstood! There was no triangle involved in this. What was he thinking? Are love triangles all the rage these days? She had to clear this up before he misunderstood any more. Who knows what he might come up with next; vampires and werewolves should be out of the question.

"I don't think you understand. There isn't a third party involved."

Shamal had another idea, but he didn't think it was true. It was too ludicrous to be true.

At that moment, Akari took a breath, but hesitates to say what she's going to say, then spit it out as if she wanted to get it over with. "I'm the bride, okay?" Shamal blinked once, twice, three, maybe 12 times before he said his say in the matter. "Who is stupid enough to marry a girl like you?" But it wasn't stupidity that drove this act, nor was it insanity. It was something more logical and sinister, and only one group of people could plan such a thing: the Varia. There was no doubt in his mind that they were behind this; she had been with them ever since she was young. For what purpose would marrying _her_ provide? It would be pointless for her to be in love with anyone or vice versa. So there was only one answer...

"They want a baby, don't they?" Shamal said, leaning forward with his elbows propped on his knees and his chin resting on his entwined fingers. Akari shut her eyes with grim at the fact and nodded her head. Obviously this hurt her, for more than one reason, but the second unknown. Shamal only knew this made her feel like an item, a weapon even, and it did. It looked like she was about to cry, so he stood up and spoke his mind. There was no use in sugar coating anything about this.

Shamal says, "They want to make another monster, don't they? They want to use it to—"

"Don't say _it_!" she interrupted, "I know what they want to do, but... A child is a child, not some unknown species or monster. I don't even know if I could do it... Give birth, I mean."

Shamal didn't know what to say at first but found a good question that avoided this subject, yet kept them talking about the bigger picture. "Does... Timoteo know about this?"

"Of course he does. Among the people that know about my abilities he is the only one that believes in the good in me, unlike everyone else... "

"Sorry but you're a monster and you work with the Varia. I don't know what you're doing here in Japan but I know it has to be their doing, right? You never once cared about seeing Tsuna, even when you first found out about him. I don't exactly have a reason to think you have any sort of good intentions."

"... When I saw the profiles of his guardians, that's when I decided to come here. I only wanted to see one of them; to talk to him. To catch up on everything that's happened since we parted."

"Oh please, Hayato hasn't been gone that long."

"..." Akari looked down and clenched her fists. "You know what? I have to go, you're wasting my time." She said hastily, then pushed the older man out of the way and stormed out of the room and towards Namimori Middle School.


End file.
